as small as possible so that the car may go faster. The Operations Team manages the project's fundraising and public relations, ensuring the team has a presence with both sponsors and various educational activities. Administration In addition to the five subteams, there is also an executive team composed of leads from each subteam. The executive team is responsible for ensuring engineering timelines remain on track and the team remains funded and in good standing with the University. As with any student group at the University of Minnesota, UMNSVP must have a faculty advisor. The faculty advisor is not directly involved with the design or construction of the car, but performs executive duties and serves as a contact to the University. The current faculty advisor for the team is Professor David Orser (Electrical and Computer Engineering). Previous faculty advisors include Professors Jeff Hammer, Patrick Starr, Virgil Marple, Paul Imbertson, and Philip Cohen. Good Luck Charms The team has a number of good luck charms that are brought with to race events. These good luck charms include the Counter Sink, and garden gnomes David Chrome Tip and David Chrome Tip Jr. Cars The University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project has built 14 cars in its history: Aurora I Aurora I was the first vehicle built by UMNSVP. It is arguably one of the largest solar cars ever built for a race. It served as a solid basis of knowledge with which to work on future projects. Sunrayce 93 (Arlington, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota) 21st Place Overall (out of 36) Awarded "SAE Design Excellence in Engineering Safety" Aurora II Aurora II built heavily on the experience gained from Aurora I. It featured a complete redesign from the previous car and made the UMNSVP a permanent fixture in the world of solar car racing. Sunrayce 95 (Indianapolis, Indiana to Golden, Colorado) 2nd Place Overall Best daily average speed (50.4 mph) Awarded "EDS Best use of Aerodynamics in Design" 1995 World Solar Rallye (Akita, Japan) 2nd Place, Junior Class 9th Place Overall (out of 79) Aurora3 Aurora³ was a redesign of Aurora II, with a focus on improving the efficiency of the car. It featured a more aerodynamic shape and an in-wheel motor, which was a vast improvement over Aurora II's chain driven motor. Sunrayce 97 (Indianapolis, Indiana to Colorado Springs, Colorado) 11th Place Overall (out of 36), due to a brake failure after brake